Tears drying in the wind
by Cinna and his Clothes
Summary: Annie Cresta's POV in the 70th Hunger Games when her brother gets be-headed. One-shot


Soft, papery white skin. Long, flowing brown hair. Glassy green eyes. This is me. I am in the 70th Hunger Games with my younger brother, Aaron. He is only thirteen, three years younger than myself. We have been with the career pack since the bloodbath. The careers assume that we, like everyone else in district 4, have been training our whole lives for the Games, like them. But we haven't. Father wanted us to but mother was so much against it, that he eventually gave up trying to persuade her. Aaron and I agreed with mother. I think back to the reaping, when my name was drawn out. I expected the eighteen year old that had been chosen to volunteer to volunteer, but she didn't. She stayed stationary in the crowd of girls, like a crowd of lambs waiting to be chosen for the slaughter.

Aaron and I both received good training scores, me with a score of eight and Aaron with a score of seven, which is good for someone so small. There are only six of us left in the arena. The girl from one, Tiger. The boy and the girl from two, Lewis and Alana. Aaron and I. And the boy from nine, who I don't know the name of. Aaron and I are travelling with the tributes from one and two. The only boy without an ally is the boy from nine. The boy from nine is dangerous. He received a score of ten, higher than anyone else except the boy from one, who received a score of ten as well but somehow died off in the bloodbath. I've seen the boy from nine use a sword in training. I saw him slice a plastic dummy in half with one swing.

'Annie!' I twirl around to see Aaron, with an armful of sticks and twigs.

'Lewis and Alana have gone hunting for food. They told us to build a fire.' He explains.

'Where's Tiger?' I ask.

'She's gone off in one of her tantrums again.' He grins. I grin too. Over the last two weeks since the bloodbath, Tiger has taken to getting upset over the stupidest of things. I dislike the careers as much as anyone else, but allying with them has advantages. We have an endless supply of food and water, we are much safer and when the time comes and we have to kill them, we don't have to look everywhere in this treacherous jungle.

After about fifteen minutes we have built a nice fire which will be good for this evening. We sit in silence for a while, until someone grabs me from behind. I scream and thrash around, thinking that Lewis and Alana have decided that my time is up, but when I get a glimpse of my attackers face, I see that it is the boy from nine. I have no chance, none at all. This is the boy who I watched cut off another boy's arms and legs during the bloodbath. The boy doesn't speak at all. I close my eyes and prepare myself for the agony that is to come. I hear a cry of pain and my eyes flutter open to see that Aaron has kicked the boy in his stomach. The boy has not let go, but he has slackened his grip just enough for me to pull myself free from his bone-crunching grasp. I spin around and see that the boy has Aaron pinned to the ground by his shoulders.

'Annie! Run, Annie! Quick, go!' He pleads. But I cannot go. I have to save him.

'Annie, please, go!' He chokes out. I take a deep breath and step towards both of them. I am about to kick the boy on his back, when he raises his arm and hacks the sword into my brothers neck.

I turn and flee. The world is numb, cold, dead. I don't know what's happening. My vision is hazy and blurred. I can't comprehend what has just happened. I run and run and keep running until I feel like I'm on the edge of the earth, about to tip off and fall into space. I find a cave and crawl as far as I can go. It is then that the emotions come. At first I laugh. I laugh and laugh and laugh, but I have no idea why. There is nothing funny about the situation, but I laugh and laugh until my throat is chocked raw and I can taste blood. I finally fall asleep on the floor of the cave.

When I awaken, I finally understand what has happened. A scream fills the air, an agonising scream that can make all happiness drain from the earth. It goes on and on, and I can't tell if it lasts hours or minutes. It is only when the screaming stops that I realise it was me. A wave of sorrow comes over me, and tears shudder through my body, speckling the cave floor, like the sparkling of a sword blade in the sunshine. The screaming starts again, like white hot agony searing my whole being to the point of unconsciousness. And then the world is gone, and there is nothing left of it but my tears drying in the wind.


End file.
